Cyprus

Anger and tension as Cyprus does a precautionary closure of dividing-checkpoint on the split island, in view of Co-Vid 19 outbreak

cde.news desk 7 March 2020, 16:00 · 1 min read

epa08262628 People stand in front of the closed-down Ledra's street checkpoint in Nicosia, Cyprus, 01 March 2020. The Cyprus government decided to temporarily close four crossing points along the Buffer Zone as a safeguard against the possible spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19 all over the island. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. EPA-EFE/KATIA CHRISTODOULOU

Cypriot police had to fire pepper spray on Saturday as tension led to skirmishes with protesters angry that a checkpoint on the ethnically split island was closed in what authorities have said was a precaution against coronavirus, witnesses said.

Cyprus announced the temporary closure of four checkpoints on the divided island on Feb. 28, the first closure since crossings between the two sides were eased in 2003 after decades of estrangement.

DW reports that Cypriot authorities last week announced the closure of four of the nine checkpoints on the island, which is divided between the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey. The closures, which authorities said were for public health reasons amid series of coronavirus outbreaks around the globe, are the first since tensions between the two sides eased in 2003.

Reuters reports that witnesses said a group of people on the Turkish Cypriot side turned out in support of peace activists on the other side of the barricade calling for the checkpoint, on Nicosia’s Ledra Street, to open. The Ledra Street checkpoint is a narrow pedestrian alley traversing a U.N.-controlled buffer zone. When open, it is used by hundreds of people on a daily basis.

Via Reuters / DW